New(?) Sun and Moon Information: Further Elaborations

In light of about half a dozen leaks ranging from the CoroCoro Magazine pictures to actual early released images from the trailer originally set to premiere on Friday, the Pokémon Company decided to release the new Sun and Moon trailer early. Honestly, can’t really blame them for it, after all it seems like just about everything new and exciting that came with this one was unveiled early. So, while this trailer doesn’t necessarily teach us a lot, it does clarify and add some extra information to things we already knew about. If you haven’t seen it check it out, cause it’s still pretty great stuff.

New Pokémon

Two of these guys I’ve already had the chance to talk about, and the third one… Well I don’t have all that much to say about really, so let’s get into them.

Wishiwashi

Yes that’s right, I’m sure you remember this guy, right? Originally called Yowashi when we saw him in CoroCoro, the adorable little Water-type fish that gathers in a school and becomes a big submarine-like shark monster? Well, we know quite a bit more about him now, and honestly I love this Pokémon even more because of it.

According to its official description off the Pokémon website: “A single Wishiwashi is tiny and weak. Measuring just eight inches from nose to tail, Wishiwashi is very small—even for a Pokémon. Yet the people of the Alola region seem to view it as a terrifying Pokémon… When it’s in danger, Wishiwashi’s glistening eyes catch the light and shine out, sending an SOS signal to its allies! Wishiwashi that have encountered many dangerous situations and have a lot of experience calling on their allies will be able to emit a bright light from their eyes. They can gather allies and transform into an even more powerful Pokémon! Even Gyarados flee from Wishiwashi’s School Form!”

Wishiwashi is apparently considered the demon of the sea because of it’s School Form, which is known for being able to decimate and terrify Gyarados. Who ever thought that the guys in charge of making Pokémon would ever introduce a non-legendary higher up in the Water-type food chain than even Gyarados? That guy’s practically a staple in the series!

Speaking of the School Form, we now know more about how the transformation works: The ability Schooling, new and exclusive to Wishiwashi, will allow it to transform once it reaches a certain level in-game, however when its health falls below a certain threshold the other fish will scatter and leave Wishiwashi alone again.

Honestly? All and all an amazing Pokémon, and a very strong candidate for my first Alolan-based team once the game comes out.

Pyukumuku

I don’t know what it is with the mono Water-types of this generation having adorable names, but god damn do this guy and Wishiwashi have adorable names. You may remember the small information leak out of CoroCoro Magazine yesterday showcasing this little thing off without too much information, but now we have a bunch more to share about it.

According to its official description off the Pokémon website: “Due to their appearance and their lifestyle, Pyukumuku are considered unappealing to tourists. Part-time work chucking Pyukumuku back into the sea is available at tourist beaches. But no matter how far they’re thrown, Pyukumuku will always return to the same spot. Once a Pyukumuku finds a place it likes, it won’t budge from it. If someone moves it away, back it comes to the same spot. If it runs out of food to eat in that spot, it’ll stay there—and starve. The people of Alola found this so pitiful that they developed a tradition of chucking Pyukumuku back into the food-rich sea whenever they come across any thin-bellied Pyukumuku. Pyukumuku are covered with a slippery, viscous fluid that has a moisturizing effect. Pyukumuku can stay on land for a week without drying out. The people of Alola use this fluid for skincare products. Pyukumuku hate to have their spikes and mouths touched, and if you step on one, it will hurl out its fist-like inner organs to strike at you.”

Yeah… There’s kind of a lot to absorb with this one, and to be honest it’s a lot more gross than I would have imagined. Granted I did link to a video of an actual Sea Cucumber spitting it’s guts out yesterday when I talked abut him, but… Still. Just the idea that there’s a Pokémon that has actually been described as willing to starve itself just out of pure unbudging conviction almost seems over the top in my mind, especially given than people take pity on it when the signs of starvation actually start to become physically obvious.

But I digress. Pyukumuku has a new ability called Innards Out that really seems like it could be something quite useful if handled correctly. Innards Out acts a lot like the ability Aftermath (common in the Skuntank and Drifblim lines of Sinnoh) in that it causes damage to the opposing Pokémon when Pyukumuku faints. However, what’s special about this variant of the ability is that the damage caused will be equal to the amount of HP Pyukumuku had before getting dealt the fainting blow.

So, the way I see it, if it’s stats are built correctly, this guy could inspire some interesting strategic maneuvers for people trying to ensure it lives on low HP before making it faint to lower the reciprocating effect. If it has high HP and low defense stats naturally, this could make it easy to force a One Hit Knock Out (OHKO) and deal lots of damage as a sort of sacrifice tactic to whittle down strong Pokémon. Plus, if it gets any sort of regenerative attacks, you could make it go faster and trick the opponent into doing more damage to themselves by healing up at the last minute. It’s just another example of the cool competitive abilities that are being added in Sun and Moon to shake up the metagame, and I appreciate all the effort.

Morelull

Alright, here’s where they sort of dropped the ball a bit for me personally. Like yeah, the idea of illuminating mushrooms is something interesting to throw out there cause they are cool things to see, and Morelull is pretty cute admittedly… But that’s about all. It’s a Grass/Fairy-type much like Whimsicott with the abilities Illuminate or Effect Spore.

According to its official description off the Pokémon website: “Morelull are nocturnal Pokémon that walk around at night on their leg-like roots. They move because staying in one spot and sucking all the nutrients from the soil would cause surrounding plants to wither. Morelull uses its leg-like roots to make contact with its fellows and communicate with them. Morelull broadcast spores that glow brightly when they burst open. Looking at their pulsing light has a soporific effect. It seems that in times of danger, Morelull broadcast these spores.”

I don’t know man, there’s just nothing particularly exciting or anything that stands out about this new Pokémon. It also doesn’t seem like it’s going to be that powerful necessarily unless it evolves into some sort of beastly mushroom thing, so I don’t really have all that much to say. Sorry Morelull, Wishiwashi and Pyukumuku take the cake this week.

Alolan Forms

Now that the totally new guys are out of the way, let’s look a bit more intimately at three old Pokémon that have scored themselves a new coat of paint and some relevance to boot.

Meowth

According to Alolan Meowth’s official description off the Pokémon website: “Meowth is a Pokémon that did not originally live in the Alola region. They were sent to the royal line as an offering from another region, and only a select few could have them as partners. The Meowth in Alola are distinct for their cunning and their great pride. Two things they really hate—a wound to their pride and dirt on their coins. If either one happens, they fly into hysterics! It’s said that the Meowth that were offered to the royal family lived a life of luxury and pampering, which led them to have a selfish and prideful attitude. This caused Meowth’s form to change. The once-rare Alolan Meowth became feral when the monarchy was destroyed, and they have now become regular Pokémon, seen as commonly in the Alola region as elsewhere.” This version of Meowth is a Dark-type and has the abilities Pickup or Technician.

I still really like how sassy this new version of Meowth looks, though the description it has been given does kind of already blow a hole in the theoretical intrigue I’d brought myself the other day. Obviously if the royal family has collapsed and now these Meowth can be found everywhere, there’s not much of a chance that the Alolan Royal Family will appear as hidden Elite Four members or something. Unless of course they’re in hiding somewhere… But either way, still probably a debunked theory. Oh well.

Marowak

According to Alolan Marowak’s official description off the Pokémon website: “The Marowak in the Alola region take bones and light both ends on fire by rubbing them against their foreheads. Then they spin the bones around! Marowak’s rarity and its fearsome appearance when it dances with its bone led the people of Alola to dub it a conjurer and regard it with fear. There are many Grass-type Pokémon—Marowak’s natural enemies—in the Alola region. This makes Alola a harsh environment for Cubone and Marowak. As a result, they live in close union with their partners. It’s said that their great care for their partners allowed them to gain something like a sixth sense and resulted in their changed form. The Alolan Marowak proves skilled at an attack in which it waves its bone and releases a ball of flame. The fireballs are not that powerful, but they tirelessly pursue the foe!” This version of Marowak is a Ghost/Fire-type and has the abilities Cursed Body or Lightning Rod.

While we’ve seen this Fire-type Marowak coming for quite some time now, the description we’ve been given for it today does add some interesting stuff to the lore behind the character. The idea that their adaptations came as a result of the Grass-types in Alola makes a lot of sense, especially since the environment is clearly made for them to thrive (See: Alolan Exeggutor). I also personally think it’s neat that they ignite the bones they use with their skull caps – even if I’m not totally sure the science behind using a bone as a match makes a lot of sense. That they’re feared for their unnatural powers and rarity also brings to mind other similar mystical-themed Pokémon like Ninetails, which is pretty cool.

At the same time, the description also clarifies that both Marowak and Cubone will have Alola Forms, which I’ve seen people questioning since they weren’t revealed at the same time. I’d assume the same thing will apply for Persian, Pikachu and Pichu, but I’ll talk a bit more about that next.

Raichu

According to Alolan Raichu’s official description off the Pokémon website: “The Raichu in Alola have two types—Electric and Psychic—and they are able to wield psychic power. What’s more, they can gather their psychic power in their tails and then ride on them to float in the air! Even Pokémon researchers don’t know why Raichu’s form changed in the Alola region. The people of Alola seem unconcerned by the question. Their guess: maybe it ate too many sweet and fluffy round pancakes! Raichu has electric sacs on its cheeks, and rubbing them causes a sweet aroma to be released. The mechanism behind this is not clear, but it’s thought to be connected to the psychic power that Alolan Raichu possess.” This version of Raichu is an Electric/Psychic-type and has the new ability Surge Surfer.

Alright let’s be honest here for a minute. Alolan Raichu is probably one of the most adorable things ever. Its features have all been softened and made cuter, everything from its color scheme to its ears, eyes, tail and stumpier limbs. Plus it can fly, which is pretty awesome! Especially considering it’s our first Electric/Psychic-type, as far as I’m aware.

Alolan Raichu’s new ability is something special too. Surge Surfer doubles Raichu’s speed when the Electric Terrain field effect is active, meaning that it would have a very high base speed on top of the improved electrical attack power and immunity to sleep that inherently come with being under the influence of Electric Terrain. Electric Terrain is already becoming more relevant with Tapu Koko’s ability that activates it when he enters the field, so this Raichu is just more evidence that the terrain moves look like they’ll be more relevant in Sun and Moon. Or at least, it means Tapu Koko and Raichu will be amazing double battle partners.

I was having a debate with a friend yesterday about whether or not Pikachu would be getting an Alola Form alongside Raichu. He was arguing that Game Freak wouldn’t be willing to drastically change Pikachu enough to alter its appearance and give it a secondary typing. I personally believe it will for three primary reasons. First, Pikachu gets just about every special element attributed to specific Pokémon games just by nature of its mascot status. Cosplay Pikachu, Surfing/Flying Pikachu, getting a special voice clip to say its name like it would in the anime… Those are just a few examples really, and I think it proves the point. Second, Pikachu sells merchandise. Imagine a cuter version of Pikachu that’s exclusive to the new game that’s being pushed by Nintendo. Pretty sure they’d make bank off new toys and gear. Third, the lore and context behind Alolan Raichu wouldn’t exactly make a lot of sense without an Alolan Pikachu existing as well. Let’s be honest, the idea that a regular Pikachu could evolve into a new Psychic-type Raichu because it “ate too many sweets and fluffy round pancakes” would be a pretty lousy excuse.

Also, because a regular Pikachu did appear in the trailer that introduced Z-Moves, if nothing else they could always go with the excuse that different Pikachu exist on different islands, since there are at least four of them in the region.

Probably my favorite thing about these three new Alolan Pokémon are how they almost seem to be love letters to their original counterparts. Lots of people believe Meowth and Persian should have been at least half Dark-types, so now there’s a Dark-type. Meowth. Marowak had a special distinction in the original Red/Green/Blue games as being the spirit in Lavender Town’s Pokémon Tower that you needed a Sylph Scope to be able to see and battle, so now there’s a legitimate Ghost-type Marowak here to play. Pikachu has always had special variants and extras in different places because it’s the Pokémon mascot, one of the most popular being a Surfing Pikachu that rode around on a surfboard and could use the move Surf in battle. Now, there’s a Raichu in Alola that comes back to those surfing roots by being able to surf on the air using psychic powers – while also being an incredibly cute version of the Pokémon, arguably cuter than Pikachu itself I’d say.

Team Skull

The last thing we found out more about in this new trailer involve Team Skull, our main antagonists for Pokémon Sun and Moon. First things first: Their music. Hot damn the track that plays in trailer is incredible. It really seems to enhance the theme Team Skull appears to be going with. They’re clearly much more of an angsty, violent street gang than an organized crime syndicate like we’ve seen with pretty much every villain team since Team Rocket in Kanto. Plus, they still have an awesome looking logo. Just saying.

While we don’t know everything about their evil plans just yet, it seems like Team Skull is going to have some sort of problem with the Island Challenge system, something having to do with their leader being rejected as a Trial Captain because he was a misfit. Speaking of…

We have some more clear images of the chief members of Team Skull now, so I figured I’d share them since they were a little hard to see the other day. Guzma, beyond looking like a real thug life Doc Brown, battles without mercy according to the Pokémon website. He also appears to have some sort of history with Professor Kukui.

Plumeria is known for acting like the big sister of Team Skull. While Guzma has the Skull logo on his chain and tattooed on his arm, Plumeria has the logo holding her crazy cool hair together, and has it tattooed on her stomach. The theming for the logo is honestly pretty awesome, and I don’t remember any other villainous team really showing the same thing to this degree.

In the way she cares for all the grunts under her, Plumeria seems to get incredibly irate when dealing with people who beat them as if directly insulting her siblings. Personally, I want to see her and Lillie go at it, both really headstrong and sassy girls that like to have their tougher sides showing, both assistants under those who also seem to have a history of conflict. Dunno why, I just think it would be awesome to see them argue and interact in game.

Also, as an added note, I think my absolute favorite thing about Team Skull is that all the grunts have to buy their own uniforms. That’s right, they all wear the same thing as a part of the gang, but Guzma doesn’t have the funds to supply outfits to everyone after buying his gold apparel, so every member has to buy it for themselves. I don’t know why, but that just makes me laugh really hard.

That’s all for now folks! While none of this information is particularly new thanks to all the leaks earlier this week, getting the official reveals is always better. We get more intimate details about things like abilities and lore, which are clearly some of my favorite things if this 3000+ word post and the many others I’ve written have anything to say about it.

Let me know what you think of the trailer in the comments below! If you’ll excuse me, I’ve got some homework to do – probably while listening to the Team Skull music repeatedly.